Kinetics of oxidation of lactose by
[Cu(bipy)2]2+ in alkaline medium with Ru(III)as
inhibitor has been studied at 40°C spectrophotometrically. The
reaction path with the rate determining step has been proposed.

Notes

608

Liquid phasepreparation of catalysts used in slurry reactors to synthesize dimethyl ether from syngas: Effect of heat treatmenttemperature

In the CdS-RGO composite, the reduced
graphene oxide nanosheets are densely decorated by the CdS nanoparticles. The
composite exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity for methylene blue
degradation with a maximum removal rate of 96% under visible light.

The large positive VmE values and negative deviations in viscosity are attributed to breaking up of the three-dimensional
H-bonded network of octan-2-ol due to the addition of solute, which is not
compensated by the weak interactions between unlike molecules.

Authors for correspondence are indicated by (*)

Indian Journal of
Chemistry

Vol. 52A, May 2013,
pp. 585-592

Nitrogen doped honeycomb-like carbon as a
highly efficient catalyst support for Pt-Ru nanoparticles and their electrocatalytic oxidation of
methanol

Yunsong Zhanga, *, Weiguo Liub,
Li Zhanga & Maojun Zhaoa, *

aCollege of Life and Science, SichuanAgriculturalUniversity, Yaan, 625014,
PR China

Nitrogen-doped
honeycomb-like porous carbons (NHPCs) are synthesized by two-step carbonization
of nitrogen containing poly(ionic liquids) polymers using silica sphere as
template. Characterization data reveal that the NHPCs possess not only well developed
three-dimensionally interconnected porosity, large specific surface area and
pore volume, but also good electrical
conductivity and excellent mechanical stability. The catalyst prepared
by loading Pt-Ru nanoparticles onto NHPCs has been evaluated for methanol
oxidation reaction and shows superior activity and stability in comparison with
typical commercial Pt-Ru/C electrocatalyst, indicating that NHPC is a highly
efficient anode catalyst support for methanol electrooxidation.

Nb2O5
thin films have been prepared using diethanolamine stabilized precursor sol and
annealed at 500 ºC. The optical, electrochemical, structural and morphological
properties of Nb2O5 thin film are described. The X-ray
diffraction study shows the formation of hexagonal crystal structure in the
film. The presence of Nb-O linkage has been confirmed from the FT-IR data. The
coexistence of nanorod-like structures and round shaped polycrystalline grains
has contributed to an enhanced electrochemical activity in the film. The Li ion
storage capacity of the film is ~ 9.0 mC cm-2 at a sweep rate of 20
mV s-1 for a single layer coating. The optical modulation, coloration
efficiency, and coloration/bleaching times of the film are 30.6% (at 550 nm),
25 cm2 C-1 (at 550 nm) and 171 s/6 s, respectively. The
appreciably high coloration efficiency and fast switching kinetics shows the
potential utility of these films in electrochromic windows.

Kinetics of oxidation of
lactose by [Cu(bipy)2]2+ in alkaline medium using Ru(III)
as an inhibitor has been studied spectrophotometrically at 40 °C. The studies
show that the rate of the reaction is zero order with respect to [Cu(bipy)2]2+
and first order with respect to [lactose]. The order of reaction is found to be
two at low concentrations of OH– (from 1.48×105 to
3.47×105M) and less than
two at its high concentrations (from 4.27×105 to 6.31×105M). There is a substantial decrease
in the pseudo-zero order rate constant with increase in the concentration of
Ru(III) chloride, indicating the role of Ru(III) chloride as an inhibitor.
Decrease in the rate with increase in dielectric constant of the medium is
observed, while ionic strength of the medium and bipyridyl concentration has no
influence on the rate. Based on kinetic data and spectrophotometric evidences,
a suitable mechanism is proposed for the studied reaction.

Liquid phasepreparation of catalysts used in slurry reactors to synthesizedimethyl ether from syngas: Effect of heat treatmenttemperature

Zhihua Gao,
Lihua Yin, Qin Jia & Wei Huang*

Key Laboratory of Coal Science
and Technology of Ministry of Education and Shanxi Province,
Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan 030024, Shanxi, China

Email:
huangwei@tyut.edu.cn

Received 18 January 2013; revised and accepted 15 April
2013

The CuZnAl slurry catalysts have been prepared by a
complete liquid phase technology and characterized by X-ray diffraction, H2
temperature-programmed reduction and temperature-programmed desorption of
ammonia. The activity of the catalysts for direct synthesis of DME from syngas
is evaluated in a slurry reactor. The structure and performance of the
catalysts under differentheat treatment
temperatures are investigated. The results indicate thatthe phase of
copper species, reducibility of catalysts and acid distribution are affected by
the heat treatment temperature. Moreover, the catalyst heat treated at 513 K
shows the smallest crystal size of Cu, good dispersion, more weak acidic sites
and larger amount of stable Cu2O species. In the DME synthesis
reaction, it is found that the effect of heat treatment temperature on
the catalytic activity is depended strongly on the ratio of Cu0/Cu+
and the proportion of weak acid sites in
the catalyst. The catalyst shows maximum activity at 513 K.

A one-pot synthesis of
CdS-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) composite via sonochemical reduction of
graphite oxide and simultaneous CdS formation is reported. The composite is
characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron
microscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and UV-vis absorption spectroscopy
and its photocatalytic performance is evaluated for the degradation of
methylene blue. Results show that in the composite the RGO nanosheets are
densely decorated by CdS nanoparticles, displaying a good combination between
RGO and CdS. The CdS-RGO composite exhibits enhanced photocatalytic performance
for the dye degradation with a maximum removal rate of 96% under visible light
irradiation due to increased light absorption intensity as well as the reduced
electron-hole pair recombination in CdS.

From experimental values of densities,
viscosities, and speeds of sound at 298.15 K of the binary mixtures of n-octane, n-decane, n-dodecane and n-tetradecane with octan-2-ol, excess
molar volume (VmE),
deviations in viscosity (Δη) and excess isentropic compressibility (ksE) have been calculated. The large positive VmE values and
negative deviations in viscosity for binary mixtures are attributed to the breaking up of the
three-dimensional H-bonded network of octan-2-ol due to the addition of solute,
which is not compensated by the weak interactions between unlike molecules. The theoretical values of speed of sound and
isentropic compressibility have also been estimated using the
Prigogine-Flory-Patterson theory with the van der Waals potential energy model
and shows
good performance in predicting excess molar volumes of mixtures of -alkanes+octan-2-ol. Bloomfield-Dewan model and Jouyban-Acreemodel show good
agreement between the estimated and experimental values for the studied binary
systems.